Carve a Frida Kahlo-Inspired Pumpkin

When you mix two different cultures, you can create really cool things. I love that about raising my boy in a bicultural family. He gets the best of both of our cultures and he gets to learn about people and traditions that are important for both of us. Frida Kahlo, the famous Mexican artist, is one of the people that has greatly influenced my life. I feel inspired when I see her creative work and empowered by her unique personality.

I was thinking about the iconic flower crowns Frida used to wear in her portraits just before Halloween decorations started to pop up in the stores, and so I had the idea of making a Frida out of a Halloween pumpkin. I knew it was going to look fantastic, and I was so right!

This project is one of those cool things that came out of mixing two amazing cultures together. My husband grew up with Halloween and he considers the whole tradition around picking and carving the pumpkins to celebrate the holiday as a very important part of our son's childhood. I knew that if I added a bit of my own culture to the celebration, something adorable and unique would come out.

I printed one of my favorite Frida Kahlo quotes and put it in a frame to spice up my Halloween decorations and I'm super happy with how it all looks when put together!

Start by opening the top of the pumpkin and cleaning out the inside. Then cut two holes in the middle of the pumpkin to make the eyes.

To make the hair, one idea is to create a braid out of yarn. To make one you'll need to cut about 40 long pieces of yarn and braid them just like if you were braiding real hair. Glue the braid around the pumpkin.

On top of the braid, glue some ribbon for a headband.

Cut some lips out of a glittered paper sheet. You can also use red or pink cardboard paper.

Trim the plastic flowers at the stems. Glue them all around the headband to create that iconic Frida Kahlo hair style.

Create the eyebrows with black felt and glue them onto the pumpkin with the hot glue gun.